


Dog Days

by shadedScribe



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Sburb Session, F/F, First Dates, Fluff, I can't believe I'm only the second person on AO3 to think of this ship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:54:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22398907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadedScribe/pseuds/shadedScribe
Summary: Jade Harley stumbles into a great date. She wasn't even trying. Incredible.
Relationships: Jade Harley/Skylla Koriga
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	Dog Days

**Author's Note:**

> I'm like 6.5k into a Karkat fic for the fantasy AU and I don't think it's even half done, and plus it's kind of heavy, so I wrote this as a little breather.
> 
> Relatedly, I finally caught up on the friendsims so I wouldn't have to come up with so many OCs, and as soon as I finished Skylla's route I thought of this. Enjoy!

Jade Harley jogged down a path in a Houston park, Bec bounding happily alongside her. She had decided to go on a run earlier, when she had finally gotten sick of unpacking moving boxes and needed to get some fresh air. Moving in with Dave so they could go to college together had been a spectacular idea, but with her memory, trying to keep all of her possessions in order could be frustrating sometimes. So she had gone running.

Dave had offered to come along to make sure that she didn’t get lost, but that was silly; she’d already memorized the main landmarks, and it wasn’t like you would ever catch her not knowing which way north was. Honestly, just because she wasn’t familiar with cities didn’t mean her hard-won survival skills just went away, you know.

She jogged onwards, enjoying the feel of the afternoon sun. Suddenly she felt a tug from the leash in her hand; Bec had apparently spotted something interesting and was running off to get a look.

“Whoa whoa whoa, Bec, heel!” He didn’t; he was a very good dog, but he could be very stubborn sometimes.

Jade found herself dragged through the brush towards the river bank, where she saw what had caught Bec’s attention. It was another dog, a big white one like Bec, but a lot shaggier. Unfortunately, what Jade saw next was a very brief impression of the owner, as Bec’s enthusiastic pull led Jade to slip and run headlong into her, knocking her over into the water.

Oh no! One day living around other people and she’d already messed up. Great. She reached down to help her poor drenched victim up as she climbed back onto the bank.

“I’m so sorry, he’s not usually like that-”

“Ha!” A burst of laughter cut her off. “I was just thinkin’ about whether I oughta pop in for a bit of a cooldown. Guess your dog decided for me, huh.”

“I really am sorry.”

“Aw, shucks,” said the other girl, “you just can’t help an enthusiastic dog sometimes. Can you, now, no, no you can’t.” That last bit was directed at Bec, who was enthusiastically receiving ear rubs.

“His name is Bec.” said Jade.

“Beck? Like, ‘beck and call’?”

“No, it’s actually short for Becquerel, he’s named after Henri Becquerel, who was a French scientist who helped discover radioactivity, and also they named the derived unit for radioactive activity after him, I was a big fan of his when I was younger…”

Jade trailed off, embarrassed. She was rambling again.

The other girl just smiled. 

“Well, ain’t that neat. All these fancy names, makes me feel a little silly just calling my girl Lady.”

“Lady’s a great name, though.” said Jade, reaching out her hand for the dog in question to sniff at. Lady took a few curious licks before bumping her head against Jade to demand pets. Jade obliged.

“Aw, looks like she likes you. She doesn’t always like everyone, you know.” The other girl stood up straight and pulled her wet hair back out of her face.

And oh, wow, was she pretty or what. Tanned skin, long black hair, eyes sparkling with joy, and a beautiful smile. Like, really beautiful. Holy shit.

The girl slapped a hand to her forehead.

“Where are my manners? I haven’t even introduced myself yet. Name’s Skylla.”

“Jade.”

“Jade. Pardon my asking, but are you new in town? I ain’t seen you running these trails before, and I reckon I would’ve remembered you.”

“Yeah, I just got in today, actually. I’m starting at U of H next week.”

“No kidding!” Skylla grinned. “I go there too. I’m a sophomore. What’s your major?”

“Nuclear Physics and Engineering.”

Skylla whistled. “That sounds like a rough one.”

“No way, it’s gonna be great. I’ve always loved that stuff.”

“Well, that’s good.” Skylla reached down to pluck a grass stem to chew on. “Say, has anyone showed you around yet?”

“No, I haven’t had time, I’m afraid.”

“Well,” said Skylla, “if you’ve got time right now, I’d be happy to show you about the place, point out some useful spots. I know a couple of nice places to grab a bite, too.”

Getting showed around by a pretty girl for the rest of the afternoon actually sounded very nice. Jade wouldn’t have thought she would ever find a Texan accent particularly attractive, but apparently all it took was for it to come from a tall outdoorsy girl in a nice flannel with a pretty smile. Who knew?

“I’m always down to get a guided tour from a pretty girl.” Jade said. Skylla blushed hard at that. Shit, why did she have to go and stick her foot in her mouth.

“I’m sorry, that was kind of forward of me.”

“Naw, it’s alright. Specially comin’ from a nice pretty girl such as yourself.”

Oh. Well then.

Jade picked up Bec’s leash and pulled him away from Lady.

“Shall we?”

A few hours later, after wandering happily through campus for quite some time, trading stories and getting to know each other better, the two of them wound up at a cool restaurant that Skylla knew where you could get bring your dog with you to sit on the patio and could get a big meal for surprisingly cheap (Skylla insisted on paying anyways). Jade was just finishing up another hilarious story featuring her friends.

“-and so then Dave just went like, ‘fuck it’, and decided to just cut the top off, with a friggin samurai sword no less,”

“Pffffffffahahaha!” Skylla’s laugh was as endearing as her smile, Jade had discovered.

“Yeah, I know, but then, the sudden exposure to the air just made it worse, and it went everywhere. Dave looked like a snowman with sunglasses on, and it took a week for the room to stop smelling like Pepsi. No one ever tried to tell John that he couldn’t do a proper prank again after that.”

“Wow.” Skylla shook her head wonderingly. “I reckon you’ve got about the most delightful bunch of friends I ever heard of.”

“I sure do!”

The two of them had finished their meal, and they stood up to stretch. It was starting to get a bit late.

“Well,” said Jade, “I have had a really good time tonight.”

“Same here.”

“Want to do it again?” Jade asked.

“Absolutely.” Skylla answered instantly. “You free on Saturday?”

“Yep. Same spot in the park, at three?”

“Works for me. I’ll be looking forward to it.”

“Be sure to pick out a real nice restaurant,” said Jade, “because I’m paying next time.”

Skylla smiled. “If you insist.” She leaned in to give Jade a kiss on the cheek. “See you Saturday.” 

The two of them walked off in separate directions, waving back at each other a few times. Once she was alone, Jade allowed herself the squeal of unmitigated glee that she had been holding in the entire time.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out to see that Dave had sent her a message in the group chat for the four of them.

>   
>  Dave: strider to harley, strider to harley, come in harley
> 
> Dave: you alright? youve been gone awhile
> 
> Jade: yeah! i just got sidetracked is all :)
> 
> Rose: See, I told you, Dave. I’m sure Jade just had something of an adventure.
> 
> Jade: don’t worry, dave, im not gonna get lost in your fancy civilization just because i grew up without anyone around
> 
> John: yeah, the only thing you have to worry about with Jade is too many people being like ‘oh wow, who’s this cool new girl’.
> 
> Rose: Indeed. I’m considering setting up a betting pool to see how long it will take someone to fall head over heels for her. I don’t suppose you might have any insider information on that, would you, Jade?
> 
> Jade: well, i just got done with a date, so i dunno, i guess it’s like negative four hours from now
> 
> Jade: can you have negative hours?  
> 

There was a pause before the messaging resumed.

>   
>  Dave: holy shit
> 
> Rose: Incredible. I stand in awe.
> 
> Dave: you havent even unpacked your toothbrush yet
> 
> Jade: what can i say? i just kind of fell into it
> 
> Jade: literally
> 
> John: details please!
> 
> Jade: i shouldnt text and walk! ill tell you all about it when i get home
> 
> Rose: Of course. We’ll talk to you later, then. Walk safely.  
> 

Jade smiled and put her phone away, then reached down to her side to pet Bec. Moving up here was starting to feel like it had been a really good idea. She rubbed the spot where Skylla had kissed her fondly, then walked happily off into the sunset, Bec trailing along at her side. 


End file.
